Horse-detaching whiffletree.



No. 65|,3972. Patented June [2, I900.

A. SHEPARD.

HORSE DETACHING WHIFFLETREE.

(Application filed Mar. 26, 1900.)

(N o M o d e l [/WE/VTOR WITNESSES: A A kward;

QUaIJFLM 4 [to We y in: NORRIS PETERS co. PHOTOLITHO., wnsnmcfon. u. c.

UNITE STATES I ATENT Fries.

ALBERT SHEPARD, OF OAKLEY, IDAHO.

HORSE-DETACHING WH |FFLETREE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 651,392, dated June 12,1900.

Applicfltiov filed March'26, 1900, Serial No. 10,265. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT SHEPARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oakley, in the county of Cassia and State of Idaho, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Horse-Detaching\Vhifiietrees; and I do declare the following to be a full,clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the ac'companyingdrawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in horse-detaching devices, and especially to a whiffletree made in sections andhinged together, the two sections being of unequal length, one of thesections having a staple which is engaged by a hasp, which latter ispivoted to the other of the sections, said hasp and staple being on theopposite faces of the sections from the hinge connecting the two,whereby when the hasp engages the staple the two sections are held inalinement; but by detaching the free end of the hasp the two sectionsare allowed to turn upon themselves, so that the traces may becomedetached from the ends of the whiffietree to free a horse from thelatter. In connection with the sectional whiftletree the sections ofwhich are hinged together and having a hasp for holding the same inalinement with suitable cord connected to the end of the hasp,wherebythe free end of the hasp may be detached from a staple which it engages,I provide holdback-retaining members by which when the sections of thewhiffletree are allowed to turn upon themselves the holdbackstraps willbe allowed to draw from under said members and the horse be detachedfrom the whiffletree and thills.

My invention will be clearly understood when considered in connectionwith the following detailed description and the drawings forming a partof the application.

I clearly illustrate my invention in the accompanying drawings, which,with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of thisapplication, and in which drawings Figure 1 is a top plan View of myimproved horse-detaching device, showing the sectional whiftletree heldwith its two sections in alinement, the sectional whiffletree beingshown in dotted lines in its detaching position after the hasp has beenreleased. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the thills with the whiffletreesecured thereto, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the sectionalwhiftletree.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, Adesignates the thills of a bu gg ,and to the cross-piece of the thillsis pivoted by means of a bolt 0 one section D of the whittletree, saidbolt being at the middle portion of said cross-piece. The second sectionD of the whiflietree, which is shorter than the section D, is hinged,asat E, to section D, said hinge being on the forward faces of thewhiftletree-sections. The ends of the sections are provided with thetracehooks F, which are made, preferably, of such a shape as to allowthe traces to become easily detached when the two sections of thewhiffietree are allowed to swing forward. On

the rear face of the section D is mounted a hasp G, which is pivoted toan eye G. This hasp is preferably fiat and has an elongated aperture gnear its free end and an eye H, in which latter a cord K is adapted tobe attached. On the section D is a staple M, over which the aperturedend of the hasp engages, as shown in the drawings, when the two sectionsof the whiftletree. are locked in their normal positions, in which theyare in alinement with each other.

The cord K passes rearward and within convenient reach of the occupantof the buggy, so that in case of emergency the operator may pull uponthe cord and release the free end of the hasp from said staple, whichwill allow the whiftletree-sectionsto swing forward and the traces ofthe harness to be detached from the trace-hooks.

To the under surfaces of the shafts of the thills I secure theholdback-hooks N, which are fastened at their rear ends to the thills,bent, as shown, and have their free ends held adjacent to the underfaces of the shafts. Said hooks being made, preferably, of spring metaltheir ends will spring down to allow the holdback-straps to be detachedtherefrom in case the horse becomes frightened and it is wished to freesaid horse from the thills. The traces being detached from the IOCWhiifietree and the holdback-straps from the spring-hooks on the thills,the horse is freed from the buggy.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim to be new, and desireto secure by Let ters Patent, is-

1. A horse-detaching device, comprising in combination with the thills,a whiffletree made up of two sections hinged together, said sectionsbeing of unequal length, the longer of the two being pivoted to thecross-piece of the thills, a hasp for holding said sections in alinementwith each other, and means for disconnecting said hasp, as set forth.

2. A horse-detaching device, comprising in combination with the thillsof a buggy, a

